ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ａｇｒｉｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｇｅｒｍａｎｙ ａｎｄ Ａｕｓｔｒｉａ

At the invitation of the Germany-China Friendship Association- Stuttgart (GCFA-Stuttgart) and the Austrian-Chinese Friendship Association (ACFA)， a delegation for studying agriculture composed of members from localities organized and sent by the CPAFFC paid a visit to Germany and Austria from June 11 to 23. The delegation visited farms and farmers’ homes in Germany and paid an official call on the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture and had talks with the experts. Rainer Dold， president of the GCFA- Stuttgart， Walter Strutzenberger， former president of the Austrian Federal Council and president of the ACFA， and Gerd Kaminski， vice president of the ACFA and adviser to the Austrian president on Chinese affairs， met with the delegation on different occasions.

The delegation visited Unterschneidheim Town， Ostalb County of Baden-Wuertemberg State. The town is located in the Schwaben region and consists of 7 villages under the jurisdiction of Stuttgart Administrative Area. In Germany the people of Schwaben are known for their hard-working and honesty. This impression was confirmed by what we saw when we drove into the town. That day happened to be the day for collecting garbage. In front of the door of every house we saw classified garbage bags of different colors and sizes being put in good order. A big tree at the entrance of the town drew the delegation’s attention. It was a “May Tree” peculiar to Schwaben. Every year on May 1 the villagers would cut down one tree and erect it at the entrance of the village. On the tree were hung small flags with pictures of local customs and specialties.The moment we got off the car， we were deeply impressed by the simple and honest folkways there and the local people’s love for their tradition.

Guenther Schenk， former head of Unterschneidheim Town， warmly welcomed the delegation. He briefed us about the town’s history， tradition， religion and culture. Johannes Strauss， secretary general of the Farmers Association of Ostalb County， gave a detailed briefing about the German Farmers Association and its important role in the country’s agricultural development and farmers’ self-government. The Association has organizations at federal， state and county levels. Subordinate to the Farmers Association of Baden-Wuertemberg State there are 26 county-level associations with 50，000 members， and several specialized committees， the young farmers association， the women farmers association， agricultural training schools and newspapers. The main tasks of the farmers association include：in the interest of the farmers exerting pressure on the parliament and the government in formulating and amending agricultural policies; providing consulting service on economic， enterprise， taxation， law and welfare problems for its members; conducting cooperation with other agricultural and forest organizations; providing training for youth and adults on agricultural technique and supporting women engaged in agriculture.

The delegation visited the Schneider pig farm， which occupies an area of 123 hectares and has 450 pigs， a granary with a capacity of 1，500 tons， a methane tank of 1，500 cubic metres， a complete set of modern agricultural machinery and computer-controlled pigsties. Only Mr. Schneider， his wife and two sons worked at such a large pig farm， showing high productivity. During the visit the delegation got to know that Germany attached great importance to environmental protection in its development of agriculture. All the environmental targets at the pig farm had been checked by the professional environmental organizations.

The delegation visited the Kleinhans cattle ranch which was also a household farm commonly seen in southern Germany. Mr. Kleinhans showed the delegation around the modern cowsheds， milk storage tanks and the fodder base. During the visit， the delegation noticed that every cow carried an “electronic identity card” recording its basic data and that the fodder feeder would automatically give the cow different quantity of fodder according to the data it got through scanning the card.Mr. Kleinhans told the delegation the problem in the development of dairy industry in Germany. In Europe there is a quota system for output of milk; that is to say， every farm can only produce a certain amount of milk according to the quota， thus， seriously， restraining the development of the industry. After the visit， the hospitable hosts invited the delegates to have a taste of chocolate milk and yoghourt made of the milk produced at their ranch.

In Vienna， capital of Austria， the delegation paid an official call on the Ministry of Agriculture where they listened to the briefing made by a leading official of the Ministry’s Department of International Exchanges on the current situation of Austria’s agricultural development. Thanks to a mild climate， plentiful rainfall and fertile soil， Austria has fairly developed agriculture and animal husbandry. Though agriculture is only of secondary importance in the country’s national economy， its mechanization level and productivity are very high. Austria practices the private ownership of land， but the government divides the land into nature preservation zone and non-nature preservation zone according to plan. The land in the nature preservation zone is managed by the government. The delegation had discussions with the officials of the Agricultural Ministry about Austria’s agricultural products’ subsidies and varieties. Besides， the delegation also visited some agricultural projects.

This tour of agricultural study in Germany and Austria， short as it was， left a deep impression on all the members of the delegation. Through the visit， they got to know about Europe’s advanced agriculture and also witnessed the role played by people-to-people friendship work in building a bridge of friendship between the people of various countries.